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Sunday Asha had 15 years of experience in banking when he arrived in Canada from Nigeria in 2006 but found it difficult to land a job in the sector in his new homeland.

"Even though I was highly qualified - I had the experience that was key from back home in Nigeria - I had a lack of Canadian experience," says Asha, 50.

But in 2007, Asha began working for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce as an intern through a third-party program known as Career Bridge. Today he is a full-time client-relations partner for CIBC in Toronto. "They saw that I could leverage my experience from home, and I used it as much as possible here," Asha says.

CIBC is among the companies named Canada's Best Diversity Employers this year by Mediacorp Canada Inc. The bank says about two-thirds of its staff are women, one-quarter are visible minorities, 3.7 per cent have a physical disability and 1.5 per cent are aboriginals.

John Silverthorn, CIBC's senior vice-president of talent management, says the bank's diversity program started decades ago in response to the Employment Equity Act that required the federal government and federally regulated companies to be inclusive and non-discriminatory in the hiring and promotion of women, visible minorities, aboriginals and people with disabilities.

He says CIBC's diversity program has evolved beyond living up to legal obligations; it has become a key element of the bank's business strategy.

"It's a fundamental part of our business, one of our greatest strengths as an organization and a key contributor to our success," Silverthorn says.

Canada's population is becoming more culturally diverse and Silverthorn says the employee ranks at CIBC should reflect this. For one, it's helpful to have people of various cultural backgrounds and different language skills to interact with the bank's customer base, which is also diverse.

"In the industry that we're in, where you're dealing with financials - which is a sensitive topic for all of us - to be able to work with someone in your first language, versus being imposed to operate in someone else's language, I think is critical," Silverthorn says. "To have someone who understands what you value, which may be different than what others value, I think is critically important."

Silverthorn says CIBC is also increasingly reliant on newcomers to Canada as a source of employees because of the aging population and low birthrate among existing Canadians.

"Creating that attractive environment where individuals from a variety of different backgrounds have a place where they can feel comfortable and be productive in their work is absolutely what we're looking for," he says.

Silverthorn says there is no quota system in place but staff demographics are monitored to ensure certain groups are not under-represented.

"We do keep close tabs ... trying to ensure that there aren't any kind of unknowing systemic issues that might be happening within the organization that would result in us being far off of the demographic that we see in the rest of Canada," Silverthorn says.

CIBC also has a number of affinity networks that promote networking between people of the same gender, ethnic background or sexual orientation.

Input from these groups is sought by management to better understand the communities in which they seek customers. Thanks to such feedback, a recent branch opening in Brampton, Ont., went beyond the typical coffee and doughnuts, and included food and music the reflected the South Asian culture dominant in the local neighbourhood.

Asha says he's part of a black affinity network at CIBC. Through it, he's come into contact with mentors who have helped him improve his communications skills and understand cultural differences between Canada and his native Nigeria, such as that eye contact here is seen as a positive thing even though it can interpreted as a sign of disrespect in Nigeria.

"I'm even a mentor now because I'm giving back to the (affinity network) what I thought I gained from them," he says.

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